Phoenix Maplewood death of a naturalist
gone girl
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All Welcome 
For the Naturalist trade! Anyone that knows a bit about the world. I'm skipping past the 'spot and introduce' bit of the thread - ideally someone Sesi hasn't met. :D

To distract herself from the newness of the Maplewood, Sesi had begun to keep track of things that transcended her location within the wilds. She quickly realized that the moon went through phases, and had thus far guestimated that autumn occupied between two and three cycles. The word 'winter' had been bandied about by the adults, and she understood from the chatter that it was a time of scarcity. This scared the young girl - enough to drive her out of solitude to seek answers from the nearest adult.

She had hesitantly introduced herself as Sesi, Scarlett's daughter to the first wolf that crossed her path. She stood there awkwardly as the time meant for pleasantries passed them by, ears pinned back and eyes hopping between a dozen points. Every inch of her exuded discomfort and worry. Eventually, she went for it, speaking in a voice that was high-pitched and a little too loud. "Where does the prey go when it gets cold?"
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
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She was the second of Scarlett's brood that Reek had the pleasure of meeting. The term, however, was used very loosely. Even in the short time Reek spent in the pup's presence, he could tell something was different about her. She had pulled him aside, interrupting his patrol and introduced herself in a terse and tense manner. Reek complied and responded with an introduction of his own laced with kindness. Then— there was silence. That weird type of silence that made up the bulk of awkward moments. Taking that as his cue to resume his patrol, Reek turned and came very close to walking away.

Then, the silence was broken with an abrupt question. Reek turned back and faced the pup. "Uhh," he mumbled, taken slightly off guard. "What?" He may have been a fount of information when it came to plants, but Reek was nowhere near qualified to answer the child's question accurately. He was no naturalist— but he was also not the type to admit he didn't know the answer. Wracking his brain for a moment, all Reek could muster was a second, "Uhhhhhhhh—"
surma suuhun
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I was getting ready to reply when I noticed Reek popped in but I just spent 15 minutes reading about deer migration/survival in winter so I am not going to pass this up. :P  And sorry there's still an introduction since he's coming up on them, haha.  And Reek, I assumed it was he whom greeted Ukko since you sent me the PM when I joined.

He caught wind of the Alpha he’d met at the borders and the scent of another he didn’t know and as he got closer, he noticed they had been talking briefly and Ukko hesitated approaching when heard the question the pup had for the adult.  The question made his chest fill with a sudden bit of pride for knowing the answer and the fact Reek did not caught him a little by surprise.  He was the Alpha of the pack, shouldn’t he know the details in how to take care of them in the harsh months of winter?

Ukko put the question away from his mind as he slips through the trees, wind shifting against him so they wouldn’t be surprised of his presence so suddently.

“A lot of birds tend to fly south when it gets colder.  Woodpeckers, some sparrows, and bluejays don’t, I’ve noticed.  Turkeys don’t either though I’m not sure if they’re native to this place or not,” he begins, hoping he wasn’t overstepping his bounds when his Alpha had come up short.  He didn’t want the child to not walk away without a bit of information.  “But lucky for us, deer don’t migrate that much.  They are harder to find in the winter because they’ll hide out in dense areas.  They don’t hibernate quite like bears do but they’re not nearly as active.”

He bites his tongue then, leaving the information for what it is.  There is more he has to offer, if the child wants to know—perhaps both could benefit from it if they wanted to hear more.

“Hey, Reek,” he finally greets, feeling awkward for suddenly coming up on the conversation he couldn’t pass up.  He turns to the kid:  “I’m Ukko.”
gone girl
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The whole situation was Level 5000 awkward. Sesi gazed up at Reek, too invested now to look away and try her luck elsewhere - it had taken days to work up the courage to flag someone down. Time flowed around them like cold syrup.

Luckily, a nearby besserwisser swooped in to save the day (it did not occur to the pup that she might have humiliated her alpha). Despite Ukko's best efforts not to startle the pair, Sesi skittered away from him like a frightened cat, back arched and tail tucked. She listened, a little distracted, to the information he had to offer - and empathized with the deer.

The second stranger introduced himself as Ukko. Sesi nodded hesitantly at him, drew breath, and flung another question into the open for both males to address. "Do we have a..a dense area?"
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—hhhhhhhhhh," he continued to drone.  Thankfully, the newbie swept in to save Reek from potential embarrassment.  He looked to the newbie, expression full of relief and let out an exasperated sigh.  Thank you, he mouthed in silence before turning back to the frightened pup.  "Yep, what he said!" he confirmed, knowing that Ukko's explanation could have been complete bullshit too... nevertheless, it was better than anything he would have been able to come up with on the spot.  

The pups question was answered, and Reek's job was done. He turned once again to continue his patrol, but the pup asked another question. He sighed, but this one he knew. He turned back to the pup with a confidant and knowing smile. "To the North East of here the wood gets pretty thick," answered Reek. "That would probably be the best bet!" While he didn't know the finesse or nuance of deer migration, he did know the territory like the back of his paw.
surma suuhun
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Reek gives him a look of relief but Ukko doesn’t react.  He turns to the pup that, intead of introducing herself, asks another question.  His features soften a little and he opens he mouth to speak once more but Reek decides to go first.  The wolf looks to his leader but doesn’t let his gaze linger, closing his eyes a moment later when he says something that doesn’t quite give the girl what Ukko thinks she might be looking for.  He considers letting it linger for a bit as Reek had tried, twice now, to get away from the girl, but he lingers back a few minutes in the meantime.

“Well.  I don’t reckon deer would migrate much into a territory filled with wolves, though,” he corrects and doesn’t look back to Reek.  He feels his heart rate quicken, not quite comfortable with showing up his Alpha on information about prey but it was something he needed to know.  And it shows off his skill in knowledge that he would be good for the pack.  Maybe just… not in the best light.  Sesi is a child, at least, but on the cusp of adulthood.  “I don’t know the area all that well but I’d be willing to bet we could find some areas nearby dense enough for them survive the winter.  Maybe we could go scout it out sometime, if you’d like?’ Ukko, for the time being, keeps his attention on the youngest wolf for fear of what Reek’s expression might turn into.
gone girl
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Sesi looked on in tense silence as the two adults debated the location of the nearest herd. It quickly became apparent that she wasn't ready for a group conversation - she could scarcely hear their answers over the thrumming of her own heart. Ukko's kind offer was met with a wild-eyed stare and something resembling a stiff nod; she did want to go exploring, to take in the world like Desna did - with enthusiasm and a smile, without worrying about the ten thousand ways in which it might kill her. She would emerge from the weight of her fears if it took her entirel life to do so.

"OK. I'm going now," the youth announced, scampering off into the shadows in an explosion of flailing limbs. The pressure in her chest was threatening to overwhelm her, and Sesi didn't want to embarass herself further.
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Sorry for the long wait on this!

Ukko offered much more insightful information on the subject than Reek had, but he was confident enough to not feel the pangs of jealousy. It seemed the girl's thirst for information was finally sated when she uttered her curt and final reply before scampering off into the woods. Reek shot Ukko a dumbfounded glance and shook his head. She was strange one. Clearly lacking in the most basic of social graces.

"Well, I'm out friend," he said. Thankfully, the whole awkward exchange had drawn to a close. With the girl gone, Reek turned tail and left Ukko behind so he could return to his border.